1. Causes of Self-Immolations in Tibet and
Reaction of Chinese Netizens
Thubten Samphel,
Director,
Tibet Policy Institute

2. Sources: 2000 China Census; China Data Center at the University of Michigan 2

3. 10th Panchen Lama,
•1962: He submitted 70,000
character petition to Mao Zedong
•Mao called him “our class enemy”
and denounced the petition as a
“poisoned arrow”
•1964: He was subjected to a
struggle session followed by
imprisonment and solitary
confinement for many years
•1989: he stated that Tibet had lost
more than it gained under Chinese
communist rule. 3

4. Arjia Rinpoche
Former abbot of Kumbum Monastery in Tibet
A ‘Tale of Three Fish’
Taiwan is still swimming in the
ocean. No one has caught that fish-
at least not yet.
Hong Kong is alive but in display in
a Chinese aquarium.
Tibet, the third fish, is broiled and
on the table, already half
devoured: its language, its religion,
its culture and its native people are
disappearing faster than its glacial
ice.
“
” 4

5. Ngapo Ngawang Jigme
Former Chairman of “TAR”
The dearest wish of all old
Tibetans was to see the Dalai
Lama before their death. This
would fulfill all their fondest
hopes.
“
”
5

6. With Ngabo Ngawang Jigme, 1985 6

7. Bawa Phuntsok Wangyal
Founder of the Tibetan Communist Party
Therefore, most people in
Kham, in [Central] Tibet and
Amdo miss their spiritual
leader, the Dalai Lama, from
the bottom of their hearts.
They trust and rely on him
and ask him to grant favours
to them and pray for them.
“
”
7

8. Panchen Lama and Baba Phuntsok Wangyal 8

9. Chinese Communist Rule in Tibet
1. 1950-60 We lost our country
2. 1960-70 We lost political power
3. 1970-80 We lost our culture
4. 1980-90 We lost our economy
9

10. Six Main Features of Chinese Rule in
Tibet
• Constant assault on Tibet’s Buddhist civilization,
language and identity
• Interference in their spiritual life
• Demonization of the Dalai Lama and forcing
monks to denounce Him.
• Influx of Chinese settlers taking away jobs, land
and future of Tibetans
• Forced removal of Tibetan nomads (drogpas)&
settling them on permanent housing systems
• Exploitation of natural resources
10

11. CPC: There cannot be two Suns in the same sky
His Holiness the Dalai Lama Communist Party of China
11

12. Is this capacity and willingness to destroy
another people’s culture something
innate in the character of the Chinese
People?
NO
12

13. Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang)
7th
Century Chinese Traveller
Buddha established his
doctrine so that it might be
diffused to all lands. Who
would wish to enjoy it alone
and forget those who are not
yet enlightened?
“
”
13

14. Attitude of Chinese to the
burnings in Tibet
14

15. Tibetan people are burning
themselves to death.
Already over 40 of them in
the past two years, and
nobody’s talking about it
[…]
I think to respect [the
Tibetans] is not to touch
them, to leave them alone
“
”
Ai Weiwei
Chinese artist
Ai Weiwei
Chinese artist

16. The communists really destroyed
religion. They don’t understand it
at all. Look at Tibet. I told the
guobao (state security agents)
that, ‘you guys have gone too far.
You don’t allow them to hang
pictures of the Dalai Lama. You
don’t have faith so you don’t
understand. So the Tibetans get
very angry and depressed […] No
wonder they set themselves on
fire’
“
”
Ran Yunfei
China’s Public Intellectual
Ran Yunfei
China’s Public Intellectual

17. The Gongmeng report cited
China’s policy failure as a major
cause. The report recommended
that Beijing in future base its
Tibet policy on the aspirations of
the Tibetan People.
(Gongmeng, a law firm in Beijing
investigated the causes of Tibetan
discontent and published a detailed
report on Tibet in 2009)
Xu Zhiyong
Lawyer, Civil Rights Activist and co-founder of Open
Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng)
Xu Zhiyong
Lawyer, Civil Rights Activist and co-founder of Open
Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng)
“
”

18. He along with more than 340
others urged the Chinese
authorities to hold direct
dialogue with His Holiness the
Dalai Lama to resolve the issue.
(Twelve suggestions for dealing with
the Tibetan Situation)
Liu Xiaobo
Imprisoned Nobel Laureate
Liu Xiaobo
Imprisoned Nobel Laureate
“
”

19. The scale of the dialogue is not
that big, just several thousand
[participants]. However, I
believe its influence and impact
are getting bigger and bigger.
One day it will defeat all
distorted propaganda on the
Dalai Lama and truth in Tibet
“
”(Commenting on an event in 2010 when
His Holiness the Dalai Lama responded to
the final 10 questions picked out of 326 by
12,771 Chinese netizens)
Yu Jie
Writer and Democracy Activist
Yu Jie
Writer and Democracy Activist

20. Source: Fuchs, Andreas, and Nils-Hendrik Klann. "Paying a visit: The Dalai Lama Effect on
international trade." Journal of International Economics (2013).

21. Export to China Depending on Meeting with Political Leader (1991-2008)
Source: Fuchs, Andreas, and Nils-Hendrik Klann. "Paying a visit: The Dalai Lama Effect on
international trade." Journal of International Economics (2013).

22. Thank You!
www.tibet.net